According to 'Abdu'l-Bahá the human species "has existed from all
eternity".(1) 'Abdu'l-Bahá designates this concept the originality of the
human species. One of the arguments in support of this statement is that "without
man the perfections of Divinity would not appear... The reflection of the divine
perfections appears in the reality of man, so he is the representative of God, the
messenger of God. If man did not exist, the universe would be without result, for
the object of existence is the appearance of the perfections of God."(2) In this
context "species" refers to the human species essence, to the blueprint for the
physical existence of human beings. 'Abdu'l-Bahá presents humanity as a mirror
of the eternal names and attributes of God which define the human species
essence. 'Abdu'l-Bahá uses Plato's argument of the perfect, harmonious universe
to support the originality of species: "If, however, the creation in the past had not
been adorned with utmost perfection, then existence would have been imperfect
and meaningless, and in this case creation would have been incomplete."(3)
Without humanity our universe would be imperfect, it would lack harmony.

The concepts of the existence of timeless species essences and of a perfect,
harmonious universe were also fundamental for classical (pre-Darwinian)
biology. Until the beginning of the 19th century the biosphere was believed in the
occident to be created by God relatively recently, e.g. 6000 years, and remained
static until today.(4) The species essences were thought to ensure that cows can
beget only calves but cannot give birth to horses, cats or ants. Although 'Abdu'l-Bahá defends the concept of timeless species essences he does not support a static
world view. On the contrary, he considers this world to be subjected to
substantial evolution: "Know that nothing which exists remains in a state of
repose - that is to say, all things are in motion. Everything is either growing or
declining; all things are either coming from nonexistence into being, or going
from existence into nonexistence... This state of motion is said to be essential -
that is, natural; it cannot be separated from beings because it is their essential
requirement..."(5) 'Abdu'l-Bahá proposes that all things in this world are subject
either to growth or to decay.

During the 19th century careful analysis of fossil findings made it
increasingly clear that the terrestrial biosphere was, firstly, very much older than
had been assumed, and, secondly, was not static but that it changed dramatically
through the ages. Since the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species, evolution
has become a central subject in biology. In this respect modern biology agrees
with 'Abdu'l-Bahá's concept of substantial evolution. In classical as well as
modern biology, species essences are equated with a static biosphere and are
considered to be incompatible with evolution, and consequently modern biology
developed species concepts without reference to species essences. Today,
concepts of species essences are widely considered to be inappropriate for
biology. According to this view, the "modern" species is defined for an existing
population of interbreeding organisms, by a common gene pool. For many
modern biologists evolution is not the unfolding of a set of time invariant laws of
nature or a God-given natural order, but evolution is believed to consist of new
self-creations.(6) According to this view biological characteristics, which are not
even potentially pre-existing, are assumed to be created de novo on the path of
evolution. From the view point of an essentialist this position implies the
evolution of species essences. Such concepts of self-creational evolution clearly
contradict 'Abdu'l-Bahá's thesis that humanity mirrors the timeless names and
attributes of God.

'Abdu'l-Bahá uses two arguments to rebut concepts of self-creational
evolution. In support of the existence of timeless species essences, 'Abdu'l-Bahá
presents a modernised version of Plato's argument of the perfect harmonious
universe; that is, the argument of the time-invariance of the fundamental laws of
nature which is one of the central axioms of modern physics. 'Abdu'l-Bahá states:
"As the perfection of man is entirely due to the composition of the atoms of the
elements, ... since man was produced ten or a hundred thousand years ago from
these earthly elements ... exactly the same man existed then as now. This is
evident and not worth debating. A thousand million years hence ... exactly the
same man will exist."(7) This argument implies that the possibility to form oil
lamps, computers, myoglobin molecules or human beings was present in our
universe from the very beginning. Their development or evolution is understood
as the unfolding of the inherent properties of the laws of nature, or, in terms of
Bahá'í terminology, as particular reflections of the eternal names and attributes
of God. In contrast, according to the self-creational model of evolution, there
would have been certain time points during the evolution of our universe before
which oil lamps, computers, myoglobin molecules or human beings would have
been impossible in principle, because the necessary characteristics of those tools
or beings were not yet created. By the argument of the time-invariance of the
fundamental laws of nature 'Abdu'l-Bahá rejects this strange consequence of self-creational evolution.

In a second argument 'Abdu'l-Bahá shows that timeless species essences are
compatible with evolution using the example of the analogy between human
phylogeny and embryonic ontogeny: "In the same way, the embryo of man in the
womb of the mother was at first in a strange form; then this body passes from
shape to shape, from state to state, from form to form, until it appears in utmost
beauty and perfection. But even when in the womb of the mother and in this
strange form, entirely different from his present form and figure, he is the embryo
of the superior species, and not of the animal; his species and essence undergo no
change."(8) This argument is similar to those put forward by the Meckel-Serrhs law
of classical biology, where the embryo was considered to develop through the
lower levels of the scala naturae, and to Haeckel's recapitulation law, where the
embryo is assumed to repeat the previous evolutionary stages.(9) 'Abdu'l-Bahá,
however, merely uses the resemblance of human phylogeny and embryonic
ontogeny as an analogy.

Although, the embryo starts single-celled and during its growth evolves
through many different stages and develops its form, size and organisation,
throughout this process the embryo maintains its human identity. The information
stored in the genes remains time-invariant and guides the evolution of the
embryo. Without this constant blueprint the development from a simple single
cell towards a highly complex organism would be impossible. During its
development, the embryo unfolds the inherent properties stored in its timeless
genetic information. Similarly, as time-invariant Newton's laws rule the motion
of molecules and planets, so does the genetic information in the cells of the
embryo guide ontogeny, species essences providing the necessary background for
the evolution from the primeval soup towards complex organisms and
ecosystems. These species essences represent the names and attributes of God,
the "space" of possible forms of life, the "composition and arrangement"
produced "through the wisdom of God and His preexistent might."(10)

With the concept of substantial evolution 'Abdu'l-Bahá agrees with
evolution biology that life evolves, that the development of life is essentially
dynamic. 'Abdu'l-Bahá's concept of the originality of the species, assuming
timeless species essences, potential eternal reflections of the names and attributes
of God, stands in vivid contrast to philosophies of self-creational evolution,(11) and
of the formation of a complex universe from a trivial origin.(12) According to
'Abdu'l-Bahá, our universe is complex from the very beginning, and reflects the
eternal, inherently complex names and attributes of God. It is grounded in a
complexity which totally surpasses human imagination: "O Children of the
Divine and Invisible Essence! Ye shall be hindered from loving Me and souls
shall be perturbed as they make mention of Me. For minds cannot grasp Me nor
hearts contain Me."(13)